Sangamon Class

I SO wish my Dad could have seen this video. He would have LOVED it. My WONDERFUL Dad was on the Sangamon during WWII. I just lost him on 2-2-2018, at 92 years old, and I will NEVER get over his loss. He was sharp as a tack. I love him and miss him so much. I will have a broken heart forever.

[@wizzardofpaws2420]

He probably met my dad who also served on that ship

[@Tbearboyce]

My father served on the USS Sangamon during WWII. He told my husband that he was on a converted oil tanker that maybe did 20 knots. We lost Dad in 1999

[@phillipdavidson7689]

One note of interest. The Sangamon class were the only escort carriers that operated F6F Hellcat fighters.

[@wayned1807]

Thank you for that information. That clears up something. My Uncle said he flew Wildcats and F6F Hellcats during the war while stationed on the Santee. I could never find any info saying the Santee had Hellcats. What is your source?

[@phillipdavidson7689]

@@wayned1807 , My father was on the Suwannee. Documentation of air group complement for every escort carrier is difficult, but all were capable of ferrying and launching Hellcats. I have found one example from the Mediterranean of an escort carrier pressed into launching ferried Hellcats for combat, but I don't recall details of recovery of those aircraft. The Association of the USS Suwannee maintains a website with some images of air operations logs listing aircraft launched and status. Something similar may exist for Santee. Other than firsthand accounts and rare documents, the only information I find is that all escort carriers operated only Wildcats as their fighters. A few images of Hellcats on the flight deck of Santee are at this link. historylink101.com/ww2_navy/org/aircarr/USSSantee/5970.html

[@patrickmccrann991]

This class was the only class that had Hellcats in their air group due to the ships size. The other CVEs were much smaller and were space restricted. They initially operated Wildcats, but converted to Hellcats later in the war

[@wizzardofpaws2420]

My father served on the Sangamon. in World War II at that time he was an aircraft mechanic

[@Straswa]

Nice vid, interesting to learn more about the Sangamon class CVEs.

[@117jesswill]

thanks to whoever posted this,...my father was on the sangamon,...

[@nancyclausen8454]

So was mine! Fighting 26.

[@rexie9186]

my dad is in enterprise

[@Opus009]

rex draper *oh nice,good thing your dad is in a bigger ship*

[@phillipdavidson7689]

My dad was on the Suwannee from her shakedown until late '44

[@nightwines]

My father served on the USS Sangamon during WWII. When it was kamikaze in the battle of Okinawa. He told me the only thing that saved his life was a filing cabinet he dived behind.

[@joesausen4841]

Just a quibble on pronunciation. When these ships were christened as civilian tankers, they were owned by one of the divisions of the Standard Oil Co. The first word of their names (Esso Trenton, Esso New Orleans, etc) reflected this as a phoneticized rendering of the letters S and O. We see this practice preserved today in Esso gas stations which were renamed from Standard Oil stations in some states in the 1970's (not sure about Canada).

[@patrickmccrann991]

Esso became Exxon in the 70s. Now merged with Mobil as Exxon-Mobil.

[@dessertfox3263]

Very interesting - Thank you for uploading the video and the informative dialogue.

[@glennbennett3373]

my dad served on the USS Chenango. They were instructed not to write home about Kamakazi attacks on their ships, because of moral. wonderful little ships

[@CasperFLSTC]

My grandfather was also on the Chenango as an aviation radioman from 1943 through late 1944. I am trying to find out about the attached air wings. Thanks to the video poster for this video!

[@markcrawford5061]

My great grandpa Yoxall was a part of escort scouting squadron 28 (TBF- pilot) and was on the USS Chenango Dec. 20 1942 doing carrier qualifying on the way to Henderson Field/South Pacific theater.

[@K_Type]

Grandfather served on the USS Santee CVE 29

[@NS-hs6lt]

Yeah my grandpa too. He was a farmer, an aircraft mechanic then a farmer again after the war. Almost killed by that kamikaze. He had a piece of that Japanese plane. Not sure which family member still has it. I think it was a spark plug.

[@robertmetzner3866]

My grandfather was on U.S.S Santee too..I have lots of items from his reunions

[@cydizen4967]

My Grandfather was on the Santee too, I have a photo of the entire crew/ship from 1946 in my office!

[@K_Type]

@@cydizen4967 can you send me a picture if I text you my number? Better yet, if you could ever go to CVS and have a duplicate made I will pay you double your cost plus shipping.

[@cydizen4967]

@@K_Type Hey Ktype, send me a message on IG and we can figure it out. @bruceActivated

[@migueldelacruz4799]

My grand father served in mainline carriers but had nothing but positive things to say about the baby flat tops.

[@renemiller7082]

Always one of my favorite ships

[@robscott8296]

What planes did she have I’ve been trying to see but couldn’t find anything

[@patrickmccrann991]

Initially, they were equipped with Wildcats, Dauntless, and Avenger aircraft. All CVE air groups were changed over to Wildcats and Avengers to ease aircraft operations (SBD Dauntless could not fold wings). This class later replaced its F4F (FM-1 or 2) Wildcats with the more capable F6F Hellcat as the war progressed.

[@WildBillCox13]

An interesting analysis.

[@wkeil1981]

cool

[@RonJohn63]

Ess-o, not Ay-so.

[@model-man7802]

Thank you!

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

Sorry, but there's nothing here that deserves a video. Just a still image and the narrator reading text. This is much better suited to a simple web page, that I can read faster. It would also provide space for additional reference links.

[@christopherwhite1648]

Plus, the narrator cannot seem to properly pronounce English.

[@Custerd1]

Cut the guy a break. At least he’s contributing to knowledge.

[@brainwashingdetergent4128]

I enjoyed it. I listen to these while at work or driving when I cant watch them anyways 😋